TEST REPORT

Combo HDTV Receiver

Amiko STHD-8820 CICXE PVR

for reception of both DVB-T and DVB-S/S2 with low threshold tuners automatic detection of DiSEqC configuration extensive customisation options for the OSD individual channel lists can be saved and transferred to other receivers perfectly suitable for DXers thanks to 12V relay and blind scan
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TEST REPORT

Combo HDTV Receiver

The Best of Two Worlds

Satellite television (DVBS/S2) offers a virtually unlimited range of channels from all corners of the world, while terrestrial broadcasting in the UHF/VHF bands (for example DVB-T in Europe) allows reception of channels from closer to home. Many of those local channels cannot be offered via satellite due to costs or licencing restraints, but are nonetheless part of what viewers watch every day. So why not launch a settop box that is able to receive and process DVB-S/ S2 signals just as well as DVB-T channels? As we are witnessing different types of media converge, why not do the same for satellite and terrestrial television? Hardware engineers at AMIKO have achieved just that. Their latest combo receiver bears the model name STHD-8820 CICXE PVR. When we opened the packaging we noticed right away that we were in for quite a treat. Everything smacked of high quality and attention to detail, and the pleasant surprises just kept rolling on: We discovered a manual boasting excellent design, easy-to-understand text and various different languages. It came with a warranty card that had the receivers correct serial number already printed on it, so that customers can easily register the product online with the manufacturer. But lets get to the heart of the matter and look at the receiver itself and the remote control that comes with it. The remote sports an ergonomic design that makes it sit nicely in your hand. The material used is of high quality, so that it doesnt only look nice, but has a really nice feel to it too. Added to that is a user-friendly arrangement of buttons, all of which are clearly labelled and have a convenient pressure point. We found that all buttons we needed were positioned right where we would have expected them so that youll be best friends with the remote control in a matter of minutes. The manufacturers attention to detail shows in many ways, one of which is a strap on the remote that makes sure the cover of the battery compartment cannot be dropped accidentally when exchanging the batteries. Big cheers from us for so much thoughtfulness. The receiver itself measures 300x231x64 mm and weighs some 1.8 kg. If it were a young woman we could easily say it would be fit for the worlds catwalks. The core of the box is a 400 MHz CPU with 1024 Mbits DDR SDRAM. The front panel is made of a stylish reflecting material and features a total of five buttons for operating the receiver without the help of a remote control (on/off, channel up/down, volume up/down). Hidden behind a flap we found the integrated Conax card reader (hence the CX in the model designation) as well as a CI slot for

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all standard common access modules. All this makes the new AMIKO receiver a reasonable choice for pay TV reception as well. The front panel characteristics are rounded off by a USB interface which can be used to attach a USB memory stick, for example, to watch photos or listen to music with the help of the receiver. Thanks to USB connectivity on the front panel there is no need any longer to fiddle around in the back whenever you want to present your holiday photos on the TV screen. Speaking of the back panel: It will please most users no end, since it sports all required connection options and some more, all neatly arranged and demonstrating what makes a top-notch set-top box these days. Obviously, there is an antenna input for each tuner as well as loop-through output, followed by an HDMI output for connecting the receiver to the TV panel, a USB 2.0 interface for an external storage medium to make full use of the boxs PVR features, an RS-232 interface, a total of three RCA jacks for stereo audio and CVBS video, one optical and one digital audio output, an RJ45 Ethernet socket, a mechanical mains switch and last but by no means least a switchable 0/12V output a specification that is hard to come by and will be appreciated all the more by satellite DXers. Altogether, we were highly impressed with the level of workmanship and the range of features offered by the AMIKO receiver. After we had connected the AMIKO STHD-8820 CICXE PVR to our satellite antenna, a DVB-T antenna, our router and a TV display our fingers were itching to flip that mains switch and let the receiver prove its worth. One of the first elements catching our attention was the beautiful and perfectly readable VFD display in the middle of the front panel. It permanently displays the current time in the left section, while the right section of the display provides status information or shows the name of the currently selected channel. A number of small icons light up to indicate the reception mode (DVB-S/S2 or DVBT) or a storage medium attached to the USB interface, among other things. While these icons are too small to be recognisable from a distance, we nonetheless found them to be a useful addition to the brilliant VFD display. AMIKO has decided to do without an installation wizard, which means the first piece of information your TV screen will show is No Channel. No need to worry, though, as now is a good moment to tap into the main menu. It sports a user-friendly design and is based on a logical structure: All main menu items are neatly arranged in the left

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1. The Auto Install assistant automatically determines the existing DiSEqC configuration 2. Menu items for channel list editing 3. System preferences 4. Both an integrated CA slot and a CI slot are available 5. The AMIKO STHD-8820 CICXE PVR is Internet-ready thanks to its RJ45 socket 6. Channel search on EUROBIRD 9 East 7. SCR option 8. Useful azimuth/elevation calculator 9. Info bar 10. Extended EPG information 11. The channel list can come with one, two or three columns depending on a users preferences 12. The channel list can be restricted to certain CA systems, if required 13. The channel list can be restricted to favourites only 14. Current schedule for five channels 15. Complete EPG data for five channels

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column, while the right column shows all corresponding sub-items that belong to any given menu section. We ventured into the Preferences right away, which is required to make sure receiver and TV panel work on common ground. The STHD-8820 CICXE PVR offers video in 576i, 576p, 720p 50Hz, 720p 60Hz, 1080i 50 Hz, 1080i 60Hz as well as 1080p for either 50Hz or 60Hz devices. It goes without saying that we went for maximum quality and chose 1080p after all its a nice move by the manufacturer to provide hardware that can deal natively with 1080p sources. As far as video settings are concerned you can also select how 4:3 material should be displayed on a 16:9 screen (letterbox or pan & scan), as you would expect from any HDTV receiver. In the Preferences section you can select your settings for OSD language, audio, subtitles, EPG and teletext. The receiver comes with a real-time clock (RTC) that can either be set manually, or you can have it pick up the time signal that is transmitted on DVB-T and DVB-S data streams. If you choose the automatic option you have to indicate the time difference between your time zone and GMT so that the receiver can calculate the correct local time. While it is possible to change between standard and daylight saving time, this has to be done manually as the manufacturer has not implemented automatic adjustment. The Preferences section is also the place to go for a range of channel list options and for adjusting contrast, brightness and transparency of the OSD.
16. Easy channel search with OSD keyboard 17. Teletext 18. Favourites lists can easily be edited and renamed 19. Channels can be moved to the favourites list with a single touch of a button 20. Audio settings

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They say that looks can be deceiving, so we tried to find out if the receiver can live up to its outside promises. First, its channel list has to be filled with TV and radio channels and off we went to the antenna settings and channel search. Before we proceeded our eyes seemed to be glued to a menu item that read Auto Install. Out of sheer curiosity we called up that function and after a few moments the receiver had found out the precise configuration and DiSEqC setup of our reception installation. And before we knew it a channel search had started on all satellites. Of course you can always choose to do all the work yourself and select Satellite Settings, which allows you to define parameters such as DiSEqC protocol (1.0 for up to four LNBs, 1.1 for up to 16 LNBs, 1.2 and 1.3 for controlling motorised antennas) and LOF values (predefined even for SCR LNBs or free to select). The list of default satellites includes 28 positions, made up of those birds that are most commonly used in Europe. Considering the fact that the AMIKO STHD-8820 CICXE PVR comes with a switchable 12V output we would have expected a more comprehensive list, to be honest, or at least a few positions that are off the beaten track. For the actual channel search, the following options are available: Single Scan, TP Scan, TP Edit, Auto DiSEqC and Auto Scan. Single Scan stands for a search performed across an entire satellite, while TP Scan can be selected if only one transponder needs to be scanned. For both types the scan be restricted to FTA channels, TV, radio or TV and radio. In addition, both search modes can be performed with or without network scan turned on. If you need to adjust the internal transponder list you best select TP Edit which allows you to add, delete or edit individual entries. Auto Scan is

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Karmacoms term for blind scan and will set the hearts of satellite DXers and feed hunters racing. The channel memory holds up to 6000 entries and a Single Scan on HOTBIRD 13E took six minutes and delivered 1487 TV channels and 407 radio stations. The same search performed as blind scan was completed after nine minutes with a result of 1499 TV channels and 408 radio stations. With less than ten minutes for either scan type the receivers performance is above average and does not tax your patience too much. If the exact parameters of a reception setup are not know, Auto DiSEqC is the search method of choice, as it finds out the correct parameters all by itself. We tried out that feature for a number of different setups in our test and can happily confirm that the results were always flawless, even for positions such as BADR 26E at port 3 of our DiSEqC switch. Subscribers of pay TV are schmoozed with the socalled Fast Scan function, which only scans transponders for those signals that are used by a specific pay TV provider. This way your channel list is not filled to the brim with offerings you are not interested in and will never watch anyway. Currently the Fast Scan list includes Cyfra+, Cyfra+ HD, TNK and TNK HD, but in future we expect this list to grow by a number of additional providers. We did like the fact that it is possible with DVB-S/ S2 reception to calculate the exact antenna alignment with the help of a very useful OSD menu item. All you need to provide is your current location as well as your desired satellite position and the receiver will automatically find out the right azimuth and elevation values for you. By its very nature, looking for DVB-T channels is a much quicker affair. Here, too, you can select manual or automatic search, the latter having taken less than one minute for the entire frequency spectrum in our test. It goes without saying that all available channels were found without further ado. If you only want to look for or add new channels to your existing line-up a manual search lets you do that easily and quickly. For indoor antennas without power supply a 5V current can be switched on that is provided to the antenna via the existing coax cable. We could hardly wait for some moving images to appear on screen, but first it is advisable to give the main menu one final look and customise the channel list. To this end the AMIKO STHD8820 CICXE PVR offers a dedicated menu item that can be accessed to move, delete or rename channel entries, to mark individual channels for skipping, or to

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21. Timer management 22. The AMIKO STHD-8820 CICXE PVR offers 1080p video output 23. Various OSD settings 24. New and useful: The info bar can be moved from the bottom to the top of the screen 25. PVR settings 26. AMIKO has even implemented a fully-fletched FTP client 27. Weather forecast 28. RSS newsreader 29. Recording function, as seen in the right section of the info bar: Available storage space is shown 30. All channels that are currently not available (due to active recording) are shown in grey 31. DVB-T reception 32. List of recordings 33. Image viewer 34. JPEG images can be presented on the TV panel 35. Playback of a TS file

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create a PIN-protected parental lock for certain channels. Favourites lists can of course be created as well, even though the manufacturer has opted to offer a separate menu item for favourites lists management. While this may sound unusual for some, we feel that its a clever move. Now that all basic parameters are set we can finally say good-bye to the main menu and let the receiver switch to the first channel on the list. As soon as the channel appears an info bar at the bottom of the screen

pops up showing the title of the current and next events plus icons for teletext, encryption, subtitles, HD content and language options, if available. Two bars indicate signal quality and signal strength of the current channel and thus give a quick hint at the current reception situation. A simple touch of the Info button calls up extended event information of the current broadcast, while the red function button retrieves all kinds of technical data for a more professional look at the signal. You may even move the info bar from the bottom to the top of the screen using a special menu item, and this is something we havent seen before and find a rather innovative option. Users can also choose whether the channel list that appears after pressing the OK button is made up of one, two or three columns. A number of additional features can be called up using the colour-coded function keys. The red button changes the content of the channel list to specific groups (all channels, favourites, channels of specific satel-

lites, or alphabetic sorting), individual providers, different CAS systems, HD only or terrestrial channels only. The green button activates the extended electronic program guide for the currently selected channel and the yellow button allows direct editing of channel list entries. Use this feature to quickly rename or block individual channels, to add them to a favourites list or to mark them for skipping. Finally, the blue button can be used to sort all entries according to FTA/CAS, alphabet (A-Z or Z-A) or blocked/ non-blocked channels. If channels provide the relevant information, the AMIKOs EPG is a valuable planning tool for a lazy evening in front of the telly. Press the EPG button and the receiver presents content information for five channels at a time. The red button with the group function we know from channel list management is available here as well and can be used to restrict EPG data to a specific favourites list, for example. The AMIKO STHD-8820 CICXE PVR is able to offer a preview for up to seven days and since it comes with full

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PVR functionality it is possible to select any event for recording with the yellow function key. While watching TV it is possible to change the language, activate closed captioning or change a NVOD sub-channel on the fly the manufacturer has implemented all these functions with dedicated keys on the remote control. Whats more, one press of a button is also all it takes to call up the satellites or favourites list. If youre looking for a specific channel and only know its name but not its position on the channel list, a fully-functional OSD keyboard can be activated to enter the name or a part of it. Even the video resolution can be changed with a dedicated button on the remote control without having to take a detour to the main menu. Talk about ease of use! The integrated zoom function is a nice gadget, but due to ever decreasing video resolutions in standard definition its not really worth its while. If active, it offers up to 16-fold enlargement, together with a corresponding reduction of video detail, of course. We should want to mention the top-notch teletext decoder of the AMIKO settop box. True, most users these days have high-speed Internet access, smartphones and all sorts of other electronic media channels, but teletext still has not lost any of its appeal as a quick information source while watching TV. The STHD8820 CICXE PVR provides teletext either through its

built-in decoder or creates VBI insertion so that the TV panels decoder can be used instead. Both tuners used by AMIKO left nothing to be desired in our test. Their reception capabilities are brilliant and thus meet the exacting demands Karmacom places on all components. The DVB-S2 tuner can easily deal with weaker signals as well, even when they only hover around the threshold level. When tested with signals from ASTRA 2D at 28.2E or BADR 26E the AMIKO box impressed with flawless reception and processing of channels from those two birds. Carriers with small bandwidths, such as those from TURKSAT 42E, for example, did not pose a problem either, and even RASD TV on INTELSAT 14 45W usually a very bitter pill to swallow came in nicely with the AMIKO STHD-8820 CICXE PVR. It was the same story with DVB-T reception: We used a small indoor antenna without external power supply and had nothing to complain about, even though the incoming signal was extremely

with flying colours. Thanks to 1080p output this AMIKO receiver served up brilliant video to our large-sized LCD and plasma panels, and the digital audio output brought out the best from our home cinema amplifier. Zapping is great fun with extremely fast channel switching times of about one second if two different DVB-S2 transponders are concerned. Channels on the same transponder are available even faster. It doesnt get any better than this. While the AMIKO STHD8820 CICXE PVR does not come with an integrated hard disk it does, however, offer USB 2.0 to hook up an external storage medium in order to make full use of the receivers PVR functions. No matter whether its SD or HD, DVB-S, DVBS2 or DVB-T, the set-top box will record all input signals, even though it can only deal with one recording at a time. Once a recording has begun, it is possible to watch another channel live, but not to record a second channel at the same time. We dont want to sound like were complaining for the sake of it, but given its dual tuner

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concept we would have liked to see two recordings being possible simultaneously. Time shift viewing, on the other hand, is possible on a second channel, and you can even add the content of the time shift buffer to a recording that is started too late. That means the whole event is recorded, even though you only pressed the REC button some time into the broadcast provided you havent changed channels. This option can be activated in the PVR section of the main menu. A total of eight timer entries can be set to make sure youll never miss your favourite show or movie. Each entry can be marked for single, daily, weekly or monthly recording. This latest AMIKO receiver comes with an interesting Record Scrambled option that can be turned on or off. The reason behind is a persistent problem with PVRs and pay TV. Recordings that are saved with encryption can only be played back until the corresponding provider changes the decryption key on the smart card (which happens at regular intervals). After that, the recording becomes useless. If Record Scrambled is turned off, all pay TV recordings are first decrypted and only then saved on the attached storage medium. You should bear in mind, though, that this way it is not possible to record an encrypted channel and watch another encrypted channel at the same time. We believe that this is a small price to pay for lasting recordings.

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36. Language selection 37. Satellite list 38. RASD TV via INTELSAT 14 45 West comes in flawlessly 39. With the useful Fast Scan option only transponders of particular pay TV providers are scanned

error-prone and put a lot of strain on the receivers error correction routines. If we had to do some nit-picking, the only issue we can think of is the lack of DVB-T2 compatibility, which would have added even more shine to this set-top box. Signal output via HDMI as well as optical or coax digital audio passed our test

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We looked at all PVR functions of the AMIKO STHD8820 CICXE PVR in depth and discovered no problems or flaws. But then again, we would not have expected anything less from that manufacturer. A dedicated overview lists all available recordings, which can be renamed or deleted, if required. It is also possible to simply unplug the storage medium from the receiver, attach it to a PC and create a DVD with recorded events using appropriate software. If TV and radio reception, recording and playback are not enough for you, the receiver comes with an MP3 jukebox, an image viewer and a movie player for MPEG, VOB and TS files downloaded from the Internet. Unfortunately however, the AMIKO set-top box does not support DivX. In this day and age of global communication via the Internet it is only a logical step for an increasing number of manufacturers to add network connectivity to their set-top boxes. Karmacom is no exception and their AMIKO STHD-8820 CICXE PVR comes with both an RJ45 Ethernet socket as well as a WiFi option with an external WiFi dongle that can be connected to the USB port. While you may choose any brand you like for that dongle, you must make sure it comes with a RalinkRT5370 chip, since this is the only chip that is currently compatible with the receiver. Thanks to its integrated DHCP support it will automatically obtain valid IP and DNS addresses from the router, so that users dont need to worry about all those settings. If need be, it is of course possible to enter all parameters manually as well. For the time being AMIKO does not offer a web browser, but has implemented a fully-featured FTP client instead. If youre one of those persons always interested in the weather, you will like the built-in weather fore55

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TECHNICAL
DATA
Manufacturer Website Model Function Input frequency Input frequency Symbol rates Constellation EPG Video resolution / AMIKO EU www.amikostb.com STHD-8820 CICXE PVR / & Combo Receiver with PVR

cast, and for the information hunters and collectors among you the latest news are downloaded from RSS feeds. The impressive range of features of the AMIKO STHD8820 CICXE PVR is completed by three integrated video games (Snake, Tetris, Othello) which can spice up seemingly unending commercial breaks. The boxs firmware can be updated by using a USB storage medium, with the RS232 interface on the back panel or even more conveniently directly over the Internet. Apart from revised firmware versions the manufacturer also offers new channel and transponder lists for download from time to time. Your personal channel list can also be backed up on an external storage medium and can later be restored to

your receiver or transferred to any other AMIKO receiver. Electronics dealers will love that feature as it allows to them to provide current channel lists to their customers at any time. Environmental awareness has become one of the catchwords of our times, and AMIKO has focussed on the environmental impact of its products as well. In standby mode the AMIKO STHD8820 CICXE PVR consumers less than 0.5W, even though this means the front display stays completely dark and does not even show the time. In addition, the receiver takes some moments to power up from deep standby. If you expect your set-top box to be up and running in a blink, you may select Fake Standby in the menu, which does not save energy, but

keeps the receiver alert for any commands you might throw at it. In case you cant live without the current time on the front display but still want all other functions in standby this can also be adjusted in the main menu, even though the standby power consumption will then increase to 2W. The AMIKO STHD-8820 CICXE PVR sports all features we have come to expect from a modern receiv-

er. Thanks to its two tuners it is capable of processing all DVB-S, DVB-S2 and DVBT channels available where you live. Whats more, this receiver is capable of finding out the antenna configuration all on its own, which adds even more fun when using it. Both tuners have a very low threshold, so you can be sure not to miss a single channel and to get the max out of your antenna equipment.

950 - 2150 MHz UHF (470-860 MHz) VHF (170-230 MHz) 2 - 45 Ms/s QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM yes 576i, 576p, 720p 50/60 Hz, 1080i 50/60 Hz, 1080p 50/60 Hz 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 yes yes yes yes yes yes (Conax) yes yes English, German, Greek, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, Rumanian, Hungarian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Czech, Slovenian, Slovakian, Serbian, Hebrew, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish United Kingdom, Germany, Greek, Slovenia, Australia, Denmark, France, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden 100 - 240V AC, 50/60 Hz

ENERGY
DIAGRAM

DiSEqC SCR RS232 Ethernet USB 2.0 CI Slot Card Reader HDTV MPEG4/H.264
Apparent Power

Expert Opinion

Very sophisticated and well-conceived receiver targeted to both average users and reception pros. Perfectly suited to all current and future HDTV offerings thanks to 1080p video output. Brilliant ease-of-use with logical user interface.

Mode Active Fake StandBy Echter StandBy

Apparent 22 W 21.5 W 7W

Active 12 W 11.5 W 2.5 W

Factor 0.54 0.53 0.35

OSD languages

Active Power

Thomas Haring TELE-satellite Test Center Austria

regions

Even though two tuners are available it is not possible to record two events at the same time.

First 15 minutes: Active use with channel switching, recording, playback, etc. Second 15 minutes: Deep standby

Power Supply

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